Eighty-four people from 43 countries were sworn in as U.S. citizens at the Seattle Public Library’s Central Branch on Thursday. Here’s what some of them had to say about their experiences living in Seattle.
Domithra and Isck Ndayarajeje: “I like Seattle. My kids, they love it,” says Isck who lives in Burien with his family. His wife, Domithra, says that the city has many educational opportunities for their kids, who range in age from 10 to their 20s. “Seattle downtown is expensive,” Isck says. “And then Seattle is not good to bring for children. We have eight children and then Seattle is apartments. It’s not easy to bring the children,” says Domithra.
Barok Yemane: “It’s been a little under 20 years [since I moved here]. I’m 27 now. I was born in Ethiopia. Everyone [in my family] came to the States when I was about three years old,” says Yemane, whose family moved up from Los Angeles to Auburn when he was eight. “I moved to the city when I was 21, but since then I’ve moved back to Auburn. Auburn’s like, it’s blown up. There’s more of everything there. I talked to a friend of mine who’s teaching and he said that everybody was coming from the Central District, people were selling their houses in the neighborhood. And they all moved further south.”
Karin: “I lived here like five years now. I love this city. Everything is so beautiful, like the nature,” says Karin, who was born in Pakistan and has now lived in Seattle for five years. “I have seen a lot of new community built here. Especially in Issaquah because I live there. I love nature, but [as] the new community builds, they cut the trees and everything. So it’s, in my opinion, everything is [being ruined]. They cut the nature and I don’t like this. I think they have to do something to save the nature. That’s my perspective.”
Rean Soeung, right: “They improved the neighborhood. There’s more store and improved the buildings,” says Soeung, who has lived in Seattle for 14 years and now resides in White Center. Over the years, she says she has seen her community grow. But moving to Seattle from Mindanao, the southernmost big island in the Philippines, she found herself changing to adapt to life in a bigger city. “Changing my, how do you call it? Changing your personality, your lifestyle. [Here], it’s more socialized than what I got … Where I lived, it’s different. We’re only a small island. [Life there] was living in the nature.”
Mei He: “I think the traffic is getting worse! That’s the first thing I see. That’s a big change since I’m over here. I live in Renton. If you’re going to Seattle downtown, oh my gosh,” says He, who immigrated to Seattle five years ago from southern China. In Seattle, she says, “it feels a little less crowded. Even though I come from a small town, even there it’s pretty crowded. People there know each other because we’re grown together and people getting old all know each other. [Here], no,” she says. He did not want to be pictured.
